Campaign Poster: The clock is ticking...

Click on image for a larger view and email UCU or UNISON for a pdf version or printed copies.
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THES: "Up to one in four staff are facing the axe at beleaguered London Met"

Times Higher Ed have once again covered our situation at a time when the media coverage seems to have died down a little. With the latest news from management that they intend to cut even more jobs than we originally feared, once again it's time to up the tempo. We need to bombard the press with letters, demand your MP to sign up to EDM 575 if they haven't already, and take action to Save London Met.

There's more campaign material and meetings for members coming soon.

Staff and unions shocked as the number of jobs at risk jumps by 70 per cent, writes Rebecca Attwood

Trade unions have said the number of redundancies now planned at London Metropolitan University "defies belief", after the figure was upped from 330 to 550 full-time equivalent posts.

According to London Met's University and College Union branch, this could mean as many as 700 - or one in four - of the university's employees losing their jobs.

In an email to staff on 19 February, Brian Roper, the vice-chancellor, proposed reducing staff numbers by up to 550 by July 2010.

"Approximately 330 of these posts are anticipated as being achieved through either voluntary or compulsory redundancy, with the remainder coming from anticipated natural turnover," his message reads.

The university's board has approved plans for a fourth voluntary redundancy scheme, under which payments "represent the maximum possible ... affordable within the university's financial constraints".

Mr Roper writes: "The board also delegated to me the final allocation of staff post reductions across departments."

A consultation has been launched that aims to identify ways of "avoiding or mitigating" the need for compulsory redundancies, and the university's trade unions and staff representative council have been formally notified.

As first reported in Times Higher Education in July 2008, the Higher Education Funding Council for England has reduced London Met's grant for 2008-09 by £15 million after it discovered the university had made incorrect data returns.

In January, it emerged that the funding council also planned a clawback of the money the university was overpaid between 2005 and 2008. London Met's UCU branch said this could amount to an additional £38 million.

In his email, Mr Roper says: "I feel it is important to assure you that at no time has there been any deliberate miscalculation or impropriety on the part of London Metropolitan University. The exact amount to be repaid, and the period over which it will need to repaid, will not be known for some time."

Staff and students have been holding protests against the cuts, and 2,300 people have signed a petition on the national UCU website.

Go here to read the entire story and leave a comment. Often a lot of rubbish gets put on those sites in the comments section, and our campaign really needs to get our message out there: staff and students mustn't be made to pay for the financial crisis at London Met.
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"Hefce can save us" (THES Letter #2)

Another letter in Times Higher Education:

How heartening to finally have an acknowledgement of the value of our efforts to teach atypical students at London Metropolitan University and the difficulties we face doing so. How disappointing that this support has come only from the editorial of the Times Higher Education (Leader, 5 February) and there is no sign of such a spirited defence from our own management. (...)

Read the rest here.

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"Bin bosses, not funds" (THES letter)

This excellent letter made it into the pages of last week's Time Higher Education Supplement. There has been lots of good media coverage recently, and with management backing down on the disciplinary against Amanda, our campaign is clearly gaining momentum. Now let's get hundreds more signed up to the campaign on the day of action tomorrow. Send in your reports and messages of support, and any photos you might want to share.

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Disciplinary charges against UCU rep Amanda Sackur have been dropped

Some great news - a small but significant victory for our campaign. Brian Roper has decided to drop disciplinary proceedings against Amanda Sackur. A demo had been planned today (see here for some background). Amanda Sackur said:

"This is both an implicit recognition that the charges were politically motivated as an attack on the unions and a response to our campaign. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those, in London Met and in UCU regionally and nationally, who signed the petition, circulated material and sent me messages of support. It was all greatly appreciated and, clearly, very effective. We should also thank Barry Jones, our Regional Official, and Sally Hunt, our General Secretary, for their contributions. We are lucky to receive such solid support.

"Our campaigns are obviously bearing fruit. You may remember that when union reps were first informed of management's plans for redundancies, management told us that they intended to ask the governors for approval for a fourth voluntary redundancy scheme to run from Jan. 29th to Feb. 20th. We understand that the governors did approve the scheme and delegated responsibility for it to senior management. However, the closing date is fast approaching and the scheme has not even been announced! This is almost certainly because we pointed out that they could not run a voluntary scheme until they had consulted seriously on how they could avoid redundancies. Clearly, we have made them think twice about their plans. However, we should not be complacent: we have made them reconsider their approach but management still appear to be determined to make redundancies."

"Now, then, is the time to maintain our campaign. Get involved in the fight to save our university."

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Open Campaign meeting: 17th Feb, 1-2pm, Tower Building

Click on image for larger view, print out, pass this on, and invite your colleagues and friends: get involved, get organised... See you on Tuesday lunchtime.
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Day of Action 18th February, 1-2pm

UPDATED (Friday 13th): Pass round this leaflet (click on image for larger version to print) between now and Wednesday. On the day itself we'll have new leaflets and a sign up form for people to get involved and join the this growing campaign.

As well as the City Campus buildings at their main entrances, North Campus staff and students are going to be leafleting the Rocket Building from 12-2.00pm.

Please join your nearest building. There is also an open meeting in the North Campus next Tuesday 17th, to decide on our next steps for our campaign. Watch this space for more info.

Go here if you're not sure where any of these buildings are and you want to join the day of action.
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POSTPONED: Support Amanda Sackur: Protest 2-3pm 16/02/09

PROTEST SCHEDULED FOR MONDAY 16TH FEB - HAS NOW BEEN POSTPONED

Following the motions supporting Amanda Sackur (Chair of London Met UCU) against victimisation unanimously passed by all London Met UCU Branches, it was agreed that members would hold protests at the time of any disciplinary hearing. However, please note that the protest planned for Monday 16th Feb (the date Amanda's initial hearing was originally due to take place) will now no longer take place as her disciplinary hearing is being re-scheduled. We are awaiting exact details of any re-arrangement and will inform you as soon as this is known via our website: www.lmuucu.org.uk

PETITION - PLEASE SIGN NOW!

Our 'Defend Amanda' petition, which has so far attracted 1,350+ signatures in Amanda support, states the following with regards to this management attack:
'They are totally unjustified and appear designed to intimidate or worse, force her out of her job for steadfastly representing her colleagues at a time when the university is facing the gravest financial crisis in its history. We call upon the vice-chancellor, management and governors of the university to act immediately to withdraw the proceedings against Dr Sackur, work with the recognised trade unions in facing the current crisis, and abandon the contemplated large-scale compulsory redundancies that, if implemented, will place in serious jeopardy both the education of current students and the existence of the institution.'

Given the seriousness of the crisis facing London Met, it seems absurd, as well as vindictive in the extreme, that management appear hell bent on attacking one of the very people they should be negotiating with to try and get us out of the mess that they, at the very least, have helped get us into.

Therefore, If you have not done so already, please add your name to the petition NOW: www.petitiononline.com/defendas/petition.html

See here for background:
http://savelondonmetuni.blogspot.com/2009/02/ililngton-tribune-drop-case-against.html

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Life of Brian (Roper): "He's a very naughty boy"

These photos are all from another supportive blogger, who said:

Staff and students at London's largest university today lobbied the Governors of London Metropolitan University, who were meeting to discuss the £15m budget cut and the £38m repayment to HEFCE, the Universities' funding body, for grants to students who did not complete their courses. Rather than take action against the senior managers whose creativity with the figures landed the University in this mess, from 400 to 500 job cuts, including compulsory redundancies, are expected among academic and administrative staff, which will have a major impact on their studies for London Met's 34,000 students. Staff have called for a vote of no confidence in the Vice Chancellor, Brian Roper, one of the highest paid VCs in the country. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7857190.stm

Got any more photos of our demo - or know of any more blogs out there supporting us? Please send them in to either or both emails.
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Islington Tribune: "Drop case against lecturer, university told"

UNION officials are calling for senior management at crisis-torn London Metropolitan University to halt its “intimidation” of a senior lecturer ahead of massive job cuts at the Holloway campus.

Dr Amanda Sackur, a lecturer in African politics and colonial studies who also chairs London Met’s University College Union (UCU), is accused of “serious misconduct” after she attended a campaign meeting in Nottingham Trent during “office hours”. UCU officials say the implications of her upcoming full disciplinary hearing were “immense” at a time when London Met is proposing mass redundancies.

Mark Campbell, UCU co-ordinator at London Met, said: “They are totally unjustified and appear designed to intimidate or worse, force her out of her job for steadfastly representing her colleagues at a time when the university is facing the gravest financial crisis in its history. We call upon the vice-chancellor, management and governors of the university to act immediately to withdraw the proceedings against Dr Sackur, work with the recognised trade unions in facing the current crisis, and abandon the contemplated large-scale compulsory redundancies that, if implemented, will place in serious jeopardy both the education of current students and the existence of the institution.”

London Met has been told to repay £38million in government funding it wrongly claimed over three years. It follows an audit by the Higher Education Funding Council England. The university intends to claw back some of £38m by cutting up to 500 jobs.

A university spokes­man dec­lined to comment on Dr Sackur’s case. A petition calling on the university to withdraw the proceedings and abandon its redundancy plan is (...)

Please sign this petition, if you haven't already, which incorporates the old one to 'defend Amanda Sackur'.

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OPEN CAMPAIGN MEETING - SAVE LONDON MET

Print out this flier (click on image for a larger view) and pass it on. Bring anyone who wants to join the campaign and get invovled - students and staff. See you Tuesday lunch.
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BD online: "London Met architecture department could be forced to cut staff"

'Building Design Online', reports:

London Met architecture department could be forced to cut staff

5 February, 2009

By Will Henley

London Metropolitan University could be forced into cutting staff from its renowned department of architecture after a financial blunder by the institution.

Robert Mull, head of the Department of Architecture and Spatial Design, this week refused to rule out cuts within his faculty following the mistake by senior management.

One in seven - 320 of the university’s 2,400 staff - face redundancy after it failed to properly declare student drop-out rates to the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

A letter distributed to staff last week revealed the council has demanded it be reimbursed the £50 million overpaid to the university.

Mull, who is also chairman of the Standing Conference of Heads of Schools of Architecture (Schosa) said: "In the current local and national economic situation no organisation can fully predict the future.”

He added that the department was set to expand its remit in the field of planning.

Trade union Unison is reported to believe that around 220 of the redundancies will come from support workers.

Mike Wilson, a lecturer in the department, urged the university to resist cutting from the architecture department: “What I’d like to know is how long did the university know there was a problem and why was something not done?” he said.

“They would be rather silly if they did [make cuts in the department]. It has one of the best reputations of the university.”

A university spokeswoman said: “It is too early to say what, if any, affect there will be in the Department of Architecture and Spatial Design.”

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Times Higher Ed Leader: "Good work that needs to continue"

Times Higher Ed followed their coverage of our demo last week with a Leader Comment:

London Met has taken on the difficult job of widening access - it deserves support and backing in this tumultuous climate

The two Mets - Leeds Metropolitan University and London Metropolitan University - are going through tumultuous times. The former has seen the resignation of both its vice-chancellor and chancellor in the past couple of weeks, and the latter is facing the loss of up to 500 jobs as it tries to meet a funding clawback.

At both institutions, the atmosphere is tense and everyone is on edge.

(...)

If as a community we truly believe in the concept of widening participation, we should all support London Met as it faces probably the most difficult challenge of its existence. Jeremy Corbyn, MP for Islington North, the main constituency in which the university is sited, has put forward an early day motion calling on the Government to fund London Met adequately and on management not to cut jobs. We should remember that the university is doing a difficult job in the toughest of circumstances. Those who denigrate the institution should remember that they do so at the expense of loyal and hard-working staff and diligent and bewildered students.

As for those who argue that public funds are ill spent on institutions that they believe to be mismanaged, they should remember the position British banks are in. They made mistakes, and we as a nation bailed them out. There can be no excuse for not doing the same for London Met.

Read the rest here:
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=405265

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Times Higher Ed: "Hundreds rally to fight cuts at London Met"

Times Higher Education also covered our lobby last week. The media certainly took note of our protest - just a shame the Board of Governors at London Met apparently chose to ignore us...

05 February 2009

By Rebecca Attwood

Students, staff, MPs urge support for institution in wake of Hefce clawback. Rebecca Attwood reports

Hundreds of staff and students have protested against the potential loss of as many as 500 jobs at London Metropolitan University.

The rally took place as the university's governors met last week to discuss the Higher Education Funding Council for England's plan to claw back millions of pounds in funding that London Met has been overpaid owing to problems with the university's data on student dropouts.

Jeremy Corbyn, Labour MP for Islington North, has launched an early day motion arguing that the scale of cuts throws the future viability of the university into doubt and undermines efforts to widen participation.

Read the rest here: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=405287&c=1

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Independent: "University on the ropes: Is it the beginning of the end for London Met?"

From The Independent:

By Lucy Hodges

Thursday, 5 February 2009

A dispute that, according to MPs, threatens the very survival of London Metropolitan University, the capital's biggest higher education institution, is spilling over on to London's streets. Last week lorry drivers on Holloway Road in Islington watched as a group of students and staff picketed a meeting of London Met's governors.

"Save our Staff" and "London Met on the Roper", a reference to the university's vice-chancellor, Professor Brian Roper, screamed the banners.

The university, which has 34,000 students, has long attracted controversy for the militancy of its staff and students, but the latest row is a more serious matter. This crisis is over an attempt by the Higher Education Funding Council to claw back more than £50m of money that London Met should not have received. It is believed that as many as 500 jobs could go as a result of the university having been overpaid for student dropouts since 2005, and the unions are furious, claiming at the same time that the university is being unfairly treated by Hefce but that neither the managers nor the governors have explored the alternatives to redundancy.

"The University and College Union are very concerned that the Hefce regulations appear to discriminate against widening participation," said a UCU spokesperson. "But we also feel very strongly about the fact that the management are not consulting the unions as they are required to do in law and that they have not considered alternatives like a freeze on new appointments."
(...)

Professor Brian Roper, who runs London Met was not available for comment. But Beth Elgood, director of marketing and communications, would not confirm any of the figures concerning the amount of money that Hefce wanted to claw back or the number of redundancies the university was considering. Talks were still going on with Hefce, she emphasized. "We have not agreed or specified a number of job cuts yet," she said.

Brian Roper not available for comment? Sounds all too familiar... we've quite a few unanswered questions ourselves.

Read the entire Indy article here:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/university-on-the-ropes-is-it-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-london-met-1545621.html

Is this 'the beginning of the end'? We certainly think so if they go ahead with these cuts and refuse to negotiate with our staff's elected representatives...

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Islington Gazette: University staff stressed out over job cuts

From the Islington Gazette:

TWO London Metropolitan University workers a week are suffering from stress as they wait to see whose job will be axed. Others are on long-term sick leave as they struggle to cope with an increased workload.

The low morale has blighted the university, which has campuses in Holloway and Highbury, after it emerged in meetings with trade unions that 320 posts are to go.

Trade union UNISON believes about 220 of the redundancies will be support workers - including receptionists, porters and technical staff.

Alan Pike, secretary of the London Met branch of UNISON, said: "In the past two months, we have had about 20 support staff come to us with stress. I work for the estates department, which has been 'under review' for the past six years. People go and are not replaced or are replaced by private contractors. In the student services department, four members of staff have been on long-term sick leave because of stress - and this has contributed to it. Some staff have gone to the senior managers for support and help but it seems that they are not getting any assistance."

According to UNISON, the university claims it is suffering financial problems because the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has provided £38million in funds to which London Met was not entitled, and as a result, HEFCE is reducing next year's funding by £18million.

The trade union wants London Met to provide staff with more information about the proposed job losses to help ease fears.

Regional organiser Harry Lister said: "We would have expected to have a formal notice that indicates the posts that are to be cut. We are still waiting."

Read the rest here:
http://www.islingtongazette.co.uk/content/islington/gazette/news/story.aspx?brand=ISLGOnline&category=news&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newsislg&itemid=WeED04%20Feb%202009%2015%3A53%3A36%3A603

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Guardian Education: "Balancing the books"

Finally, our campaign has been given the space we deserve in the pages of the Guardian...


Students protest over proposed staff and funding cuts at London Metropolitan University Photograph: Graeme Robertson/Guardian

"Balancing the books"

500 jobs may be lost at London Met as the funding council claws back millions it overpaid. By Maureen Paton

* Maureen Paton
* The Guardian, Tuesday 3 February 2009

A senior union official has described the financial crisis at London's largest university, where major mistakes in recording student drop-out rates have led to an overpayment of £56m in government funding, as "unprecedented in higher education".

Up to 500 staff jobs at London Metropolitan University are now said to be at risk after its management proposed large-scale redundancies to balance the books. Barry Jones, assistant general secretary at the University and College Union (UCU), warns that the drastic culling of lecturers could lead to the "destabilising of the university" and the devaluing of its degrees.

The withdrawal of funding has followed the discovery of discrepancies in London Met's data for student completions during an audit by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce). Funding is tied to the number of students who complete a course, and money is forfeited when they drop out. Student completion determines the level of teaching grant that Hefce allocates to universities, and London Met had been mistakenly claiming funding for a substantial number of students who did not complete their course.

A Hefce spokesperson declined to confirm the rumoured figure of 800 student records, or to comment on the precise amount of funding to be clawed back ahead of its board meeting on 26 February, but admits: "The amount of funding we will seek to recover is certainly well above anything else we have had to deal with. And the amount of over-reporting of student numbers is also of a scale that's much greater than anything else we have encountered."

Jones says: "This issue of completion rates is unprecedented in its scale, and the level of funding threatened is also unprecedented - as are the levels of redundancy proposed to deal with it. Hefce found some faults in the student completion returns and therefore believes that London Met has been overpaid for the last three years. So it will have to pay back £38m over the next five years, as well as having its ongoing funding cut by £18m.

Destabilising

"The university's management is talking about making 330 full-time positions and 170 part-time jobs redundant, with the 330 positions by voluntary means almost immediately. We said no, that we didn't want that to happen because it ran the risk of destabilising the university. We are concerned that a reduction in staff might mean a reduction in the standard of the degrees that are being awarded, because there are obviously potential repercussions for students."

Eddie Rowley, the student liaison and quality co-ordinator at the student union, told Education Guardian he "can't really comment" on the current crisis.

Currently London Met has 2,300 full-time staff and 34,000 students, one of the lowest staff-student ratios in the country. Morale is said to be at "rock-bottom", with insiders claiming a management culture of inefficiency and empire-building. UCU organised a demonstration by its members last Wednesday at the university's London North campus on Holloway Road, to coincide with the governors' meeting that afternoon, in order to make clear their feelings about staff cuts. (...)

Rest the rest here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/feb/03/brian-roper
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Sign our (new) joint petition to Save London Met Uni

The LMU management need to be shown the overwhelming support our campaign has across the country and among the London Met staff. So please sign the petition below, which is now being hosted on the UCU website. To clarify, this is a merger of the 'Defend Amanda Sackur' and the 'Save London Met' petitions that were both hosted on separate web pages until recently. So even if you signed the first couple of petitions that were circulated, please sign this new version now, and after doing so, then circulate this far and wide to get as many people as posisble to show their support. The introductory text reads:

'We the undersigned, note that the future of London Metropolitan University is now under threat arising from the reduction in their teaching grant by £18m / year and claw back £38m in over-payments as a result of inaccurate returns on student completion rates. We reject the management's response to this crisis of insisting on a minimum of 330 redundancies across the university within months. Reductions in staffing will erode the institution's ability to offer high quality education to Londoners and will inflict damage on the prospects of the students who pursue their studies, often at great cost. In a recession, we should be investing more, not less, in education.

Read the rest of the demands, and sign up here:
https://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=3678

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London Met Socialist Students offer solidarity

A message of support below from London Met Socialist Students. Thanks for your support and keep in touch. Any more messages of solidarity and offers of help very welcome.

To UCU and Unison members at London Met

We are writing from the Socialist Students society at London Met to offer our full support in the campaign to defend jobs and the education of students at our university. Students know that this threat to staff is also a threat to students as education and services will suffer.

In 2005, when the university threatened 300 staff with the sack if they didn't sign new contracts, the London Met Socialist Students society actively supported that dispute. We mobilised the support of students with petitions, leaflets and meetings, and supported picket lines. We hope to offer the same support again this time.

Many of our members and supporters took part in the protest on 28th January, and we will be setting up a stall next week to collect signatures of support from students, and help make sure as many students as possible know about and get involved in this campaign.

This attack comes at a time of economic crisis and there is the threat of devastating cuts to public services, including education. The big bosses and bankers have enjoyed a frenzy of speculation and greed for years, enriching themselves beyond even their own wildest dreams. Now ordinary workers, young people and students are expected to pay the price.

We offer all our support and solidarity.

--
Socialist Students
www.socialiststudents.org.uk

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The Times: 'Job Watch' / The Sun / National Press

We've had a mention in the Times too. It's pretty much a footnote in a long list of job loss announcements, but at least the emphasis is on our determination to resist what the Time might think inevitable:

Union leaders have pledged to fight plans to axe 330 employees, including cleaners and catering workers, at London Metropolitan University.

We've now had quite a bit of media coverage of our campaign to resist these cuts. As well as some of the socialist left papers, Times Higher Ed, the Camden New Journal and the local BBC news, is this our first mention in a national newspaper? UNISON Blogger could be wrong - email us a link if that's the case - but where is the Indy or the Grauniad coverage?

UPDATE #1: The Sun gave us a sentence last week. Even the Murdoch press have at least noted this is happening: Does Brian Roper have friends in the Liberal press or something?

UPDATE #2: A full length article in the Education section of the Guardian actually appeared today (3rd Feb).

UPDATE #3: The Indy have also got round to covering our story. They printed a long piece, on 5th February, titled: "University on the ropes: Is it the beginning of the end for London Met?"

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Jeremy Dear: "Why every trade unionist should be standing with you"

Jeremy Dear, NUJ General Secretary, who spoke at our meeting on Friday, has his own blog so his members can keep up to date on what he's been up to. His posting on Friday includes the following quote from his speech:

"There is a fundamental reason why every trade unionist should be standing with you.

"UK PLC is in recession. Hundreds of thousands of jobs will go. At such a time further and higher education becomes not less but more important.

"Expanding education is a vital response to economic crisis. London Met, a vibrant university with a mix of class and ethnicity and culture must be central to helping re-skill and retrain Londoners facing a daunting future not adding to the unemployment figures. Education cuts are a false economy."

http://jeremydear.blogspot.com/2009/01/coming-up-for-air.html
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Camden New Journal: "Campus cash crisis threat to ‘arty subjects’"

And the Camden New Journal have followed up on their first article on our campaign with a report from our demo by Tom Foot:

Fears for whole departments spark staff and students’ protest over job cuts

ENTIRE teaching departments could be axed at crisis-torn London Metropolitan University as under-fire bosses negotiate with unions over the loss of hundreds of staff jobs.

An academic source at the Holloway Road campus told the Tribune of fears that the history department could be the first to go following crunch talks over ways to pay back a massive £38million “debt” owed to the government.

Governors insist they must axe at least 330 jobs after auditors ordered the money be repaid after discovering inaccurate funding claims dating back to 2005.

Read the rest here: http://www.thecnj.co.uk/islington/2009/013009/inews013009_02.html

Their last sentence pretty much sums up our attempts at serious negotiations: "The university did not respond to an invitation to comment."

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500 jobs to go at London Met?

More good coverage, this time from Mel MacDonald, of 'Socialist Appeal':

The newest University in London, London Metropolitan, is in trouble. Earlier this week, a crowd of over 100 disgruntled teachers, students and staff gathered outside the Holloway campus to protest against cuts of up to 500 jobs. It seems the cuts are the result of bad book keeping by management that led to years of over-reporting of student completion rates to the Met's funding body HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England). Now HEFCE is demanding a repayment of £38 billion and, as usual, the tops intend to produce the bulk of it in the form of staff cuts.

Protesters held placards with messages like 'Roper, The £276K Man', referring to the pay of the school's Vice Chancellor, Brian Roper. And, 'Sack Roper and save the Met!' and 'Why should we suffer?'

Megaphone in hand, Mark Campbell, from the coordinating committee of London Met UCU (University and College Union) spoke to the crowd. Pointing to the upper floors where a closed meeting of senior management was taking place he yelled "Get your act together! If you can't get your act together then get out! If you do get your act together, then act with us. Act for us. Act in the name of London and the University." The crowd cheered when he demanded that Londoners deserved education that they could be proud of.

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.socialist.net/500-jobs-go-london-met.htm

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News Line: "‘SAVE OUR UNIVERSITY’ – 500 lobby London Met governors"

This from 'News Line':

OVER five hundred students and staff of the London Metropolitan University gathered outside the building in Holloway road in north London yesterday to protest against the planned programme of cuts.

They chanted ‘Save Our University!’ and ‘Save the Met!’ as the pavement outside the university was blocked with students with many banners and flags.

Hoots of support came from passing traffic...

Read the rest of the WRP coverage here: http://www.wrp.org.uk/news/3946

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